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November 14, 2006
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Ed Mattson - Board Chairman of the Rotary Cancer Survivors
Ed Mattson has been close to the topic of cancer for years having lost his first wife to cancer in 2000. She participated in various groundbreaking therapies and treatments as she battled the disease in various parts of her body for about 6 years. Since her death, Ed has liquidated his business assets and gone on the road to share some of his experience in treatments as a member of the Rotary Speakers Bureau for numerous districts in the Indiana region. He is a member of the Mishawanka Indiana club and is a published author of many books related to cancer treatment. He is Ambassador at Large for the Hands Across the Sea project and has addressed more than 2000 clubs in 41 states and 5 countries over the last 6 years. He recently got remarried to Irena who accompanied him to the meeting. They met through Rotary while he was working in Eastern Europe.He shared that there are numerous treatment options for each type of cancer and to identify the proper one for the individual, good hematomography is necessary in order to match the patient with the appropriate protocol. He promoted treatments for various diseases with use of cord blood that can be saved from the afterbirth of a newborn and this can be tracked through a registry that has been developed to track cord blood.
Ed has had vast experience in other countries with healthcare and emphasized that in the US, we are fortunate to have good quality care available to us. In some areas of Eastern Europe, many patients die from secondary infections, need to bring their own linens for a hospital stay and are treated with reused supplies that may not be properly sterilized.
He emphasized the collective power that Rotary has to implement programs nationally and internationally to improve healthcare availability to all. He is working with a prescription recycling program that makes prescriptions available to those who would otherwise not have them available to them. Also, there are many warehouses in the US with supplies donated through the MESA programs but often these are disorganized and equipment and supplies may not be easily identified and accessed. With proper organization and cooperation for shipment through various organizations, these supplies can be more easily accessed and distributed where needed.
Ed also spoke on the Rotary Cancer Survivors and Support Group. For more information, visit www.ricancersurvivors.com .
Hosting Rotarian: Arnie Heitkamp